A Week in The Netherlands

This week, I'll be in The Netherlands for the first time since my visit in 2009. I was invited that first time by Marc Rouppe van der Voort to visit St. Elisabeth Hospital (where he worked at the time) and to speak at a conference. This is where I first heard about their concept of Lean as “loving care,” as I blogged about here.

During this visit, I'm speaking at a different Lean conference on Wednesday (and thanks to the sponsors for bringing me there). I also get to ride in a “Lean-mousine” for the first time ever! How creative. I'm sure that will be fun. An attendee is apparently getting the opportunity to talk Lean with me in the Lean-mousine for 15 minutes. I'm not sure if we'll be adding the “waste of transportation” to the mix, but I hope the discussion adds value.

While I'm Holland, I am going to have another chance to visit St. Elisabeth with my friend and microbiologist Peter Kabel. I'm also going to get to spend a day at Marc's new hospital. And, there's a networking gathering on Monday night with people from different hospitals and our KaiNexus partners in Holland, NextChange.

I will try to post updates when I can, but I also have a few guest posts scheduled for this week that I think you'll enjoy.

You can also read some previous posts about Lean in The Netherlands and guest posts written by my friends and colleagues there, including:

• Healthcare Kaizen in The Netherlands
• Kaizen and Passion

If you’re working to build a culture where people feel safe to speak up, solve problems, and improve every day, I’d be glad to help. Let’s talk about how to strengthen Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement in your organization.